Beamforming technologies have been used in the wireless and millimeter wave (i.e. radio frequency) application space to increase directional antenna array gain. For example, devices using wireless communication technologies, such as cellphones, laptops, and other portable electronic devices, may include multiple transmission and reception antennas or arrays that are configured to transmit and receive communications over a single spatial stream/beam.
Increases in antenna array gain facilitate a better quality of signal transmission and reception. To provide antenna array gain in a particular direction, conventional beamforming architectures often use a fixed set of weights (e.g., amplitude and phase) to configure the antenna array to form one of variety of single transmitter and/or receiver beams. However, the resulting directional antenna array gain can often be poorly aligned relative to at least one device in a network including multiple devices. As the desired bandwidth capacity and the number of mobile electronic devices in typical environments increases, wireless transmissions become more susceptible to noise, signal reflections, and interference caused by nearby interferee devices, all of which can change over time due to the mobility of the various devices. Thus, there is a need in the art for methodologies to reliably cover multiple devices using a single antenna array gain, particularly in the context of mobile transmitters and/or receivers.
Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, wherein showings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of the present disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.